I wanted to wish all of my followers and supporters the happiest of holidays. Things have been so crazy around here at Tried and Tasty I’m a day or two behind, but my philosophy is better late than never right? I hope you all had a wonderful day and were able to celebrate with family and loved ones, I also hope you were able to eat lots of yummy delicious food. I know that I did!

I don’t typically share too much other than recipes. Occasionally there will be something different here and there, but for the most part, it’s all recipes on this site. I would however love to share other things some times but I’m not sure how to incorporate them. I’ll be working on a way to blend a little bit more of my life or behind the scenes around here in 2014.

For the last who knows how long, my sister and I have wanted to make Liege waffles for breakfast on special holidays. For whatever reason, something always comes up, or the recipe is too labor intensive and/or we run out of time. This year I have had the week off from work and so I was able to put time in to prepping the dough to have ready in time for Christmas morning. I was first introduced to these type of waffles when I visited Bruges Waffles & Frites. I had heard great things, but it wasn’t until I sunk my teeth in to that first bite that I realized what I’ve been missing.

This past summer my friend Ashlee over at I’m Topsy Turvy posted a liege waffle recipe and I knew right away I wanted to make it. So these last couple of weeks I’ve been looking over the recipe to make sure I had all of the ingredients needed, knew how much time to prepare for in advance, and on Christmas Eve I went right to work. Thankfully I started mid-morning, because it took all day. I followed each instruction very carefully to the T and made sure everything was done just perfectly. I had my mouth watering for these waffles and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin them by not being careful and following directions. Christmas morning they were ready to go. Popped them in the waffle iron and voila! I had made Traditional Liege Waffles! The whole family loved them. I made a double batch and froze a good bunch of them, so now I can have them whenever I want!

So what did you get for Christmas? I really only asked for one thing, so I was pleasantly surprised by all of the fun things I got. Can you tell that I love anything for the kitchen? Almost everything I got was something marvelous that will accompany whilst I cook and bake! My husband and family know me well if I do say so.

I did ask for this Silpat Roul’Pat Non-Stick Silicone Countertop Work Station. I have been wanting one of these for years now! I went to a Demarle At Home party several years ago where I was first introduced to (and bought) the Slipat silicone baking mats. I had seen them around, but hadn’t ever purchased any before. I was also shown the Roul’Pat, but didn’t have enough money to get everything I wanted of course. I’ve been wishing and hoping ever since to add one to my kitchen and now I’ve got one! It’s going to be amazing.

The hubs surprised me with this fun Tovolo 12 Inch Silicone Spatula Set! I LOVE spatulas and especially love silicone spatulas. I love that these are bright colors. Fun colors makes cooking extra exciting. Apparently, according to my husbands research (and boy does he like to research), these are the highest rated spatulas on Amazon. I’m excited to use them!

These Progressive International Snap Fit Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons were also on my list. I’ve heard many great things about them from several of my blogging buddies and I’m excited to now have a set in my arsenal. I’m a firm believer in that you can’t have too many measuring spoons or measuring cups. I can never find the size I need in my measuring spoons, so it’s great that these snap right together so they will always be together for quick access.

These Le Creuset 8-Ounce Petite Round Covered Casserole dishes were a big surprise from my family. They are ADORABLE. I love all things mini, and I LOVE Le Creuset. I only have a couple of pieces, so I’m excited to add these to the collection. I love the colors, I love the size, and I’m very excited to use them!!! Now I need to figure out what I want to make in them first.

With all of the cookies I had made for my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies series I had mentioned in passing that it would be nice to have a couple of extra cooling racks. Can you believe I only have TWO of them. So when I opened these Baker’s Secret Nonstick Cooling Racks I was pleasantly surprised that the hubs heard my quick comment. Boy will these come in handy in the future. I can’t believe I only had two before. Even four doesn’t seem like enough, but I’m happy that I will have a couple more than I’ve had!

This was a fun surprise! It’s the most beautifully crafted cookbook and I”m so excited to dig in and make some things from it. Not that you’ve been able to tell from all of the sweet treats I’ve been posting like a mad woman, but the hubs and I drastically changed our diets last year after completing a 30 Day Juice Fast/Cleanse last January/February (I gave away 99.9% of all of the cookies and treats made this month). This coming year we are planning on making even MORE changes and I’m so excited to continue my quest to become my healthiest me. The Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week cookbook will be a great asset as we try to cut back on meat. We aren’t going entirely vegetarian or vegan, but will be eating much less meat than we do now.

Last, but certainly not least, these Imprint Comfort Mats were a HUGE surprise and not even on my radar in the slightest. I cannot even tell you the amount of hours I’ve been spending in the kitchen over the last month. Do you know how nice these would have been to have? I got two of them! One for in front of the sink, and the other for in front of the stove. These will be a lifesaver for sure! I am super stoked!

There you have it, all of the fun kitchen items I got for Christmas this year. I can’t wait to use them, and I’m sure you may be seeing a thing or two in future posts. So what did you get? Did you have a great Christmas? It’s hard to believe it has come and gone already. I didn’t have enough time. It seems like the time flew too quickly. In fact, I’m catching up on the Christmas movies I didn’t get to see before Christmas now. After all, it’s still Christmas week – so that’s totally acceptable!

Post navigation

Yvonne, I have also changed my eating ways and lost 50 #’s. I still have about 10 to go ( well maybe a few more after I get done cooking for everyone) but I am a huge supporter of eating healthy! I love the 8 oz covered casserole pots. I will be looking for something like that soon and healthy recipes to go inside! Thank you for sharing all your BEAUTIFUL pictures taken just right! Love them and you! Happy cooking in 2014! I’ll be watching for your posts.

Awe, Mrs. Collins YOU’RE WELCOME! That’s amazing that you’ve lost 50 lbs! Way to go, it’s so crazy how when we feed our body good food and nutrients it will turn around and perform optimally for us. I’m so excited to bring more healthy and delicious recipes in 2014. Watch for some really great stuff!

I’m so so SOOOO glad you loved the recipe! I made a double batch too, but it was gone in 2 days if only my bosch would fit a larger batch… My husband got me three of the comfort mats for Mothers day this year, best surprise EVER and I ADORE them! you will totally love them! Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

Whoa!! Gone in two days?!? I still have my 2nd batch in the freezer! Good thing you invested in that 5 lb bag of belgian sugar I already know that I love the mats!!! I was so surprised.. I didn’t even know what they were.. hee hee! Thanks for stopping by friend!

I'm so happy you are here! My name is Yvonne and I love to slice, dice, bake, shake, cook, and sprinkle! I love having fun in the kitchen and hope you'll come along. Tried and Tasty is a place for me to share my passion with you. If I Tried a recipe and thought it was Tasty, you'll find it here!